Even the experts get it wrong

punkdoc

This is a meadow grown by James Hitchmough, Sheffield University, who is a highly regarded expert on meadow planting.
As you can see, this is not the mixed planting planned, but is composed of 95% buttercups.
He openly admits that the growing medium used was too rich, so the buttercups have out competed everything else, due to their liking for rich soil.
His plan is, soil fertility will decrease over 2-3 years and then he can introduce other species.

wild edges

He'll soon be a highly regarded expert on who likes butter.

pansyface

Yes, he collaborated with a Sheffield seed company called Pictorial Meadows. 

I’ve bought wildflower mixed seeds from them.

But I see today that their website has been hexed.🥴

punkdoc

He worked with Nigel Dunnett on the Olympic Park meadows. He is a really interesting bloke and has also designed some beautiful gardens.

raisingirl

"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often the result of lack of wisdom"

fidgetbones

Although I started my wildflower patch by skimming off all the turf, and have never added fertiliser, it has taken ten years to get the fertility down. The first year the foxgloves were six foot high. Now they are down to three.

Fire

Keeping low soil fertility really does seem to be key for most wildflower planting. Managing that in the long term is hard, esp if plants are not shawn off and removed at some point every year. Even very diverse planting can shift towards thugs and grass if not well managed. Taking off a top layer of soil or turf is often not enough and the top soil deeper down will be feeding roots.

It seems that creating long term meadows on chalky or sandy soils is generally easier than trying to work with previously farmed land that has had fertilisers or animals on it; It will always want to be woodland and pull that way.

Dovefromabove

Take a look here  ... around 4.46 minutes into the film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYVr7r1xI-Y

We were there the other day ... at the moment it's full of Ox-eye daisies and Sanfoin ... later in the season there'll be other plants blooming ... 

punkdoc

What I found really interesting about the meadow I showed, was that at the edges, where the soil had not been amended, there were: Aquilegia, Ragged Robin, Thalictrum and many others.

Fire

@Dovefromabove do you know High Ash Farm? I'm coming up to Norfolk soon and might like to visit. So great to see regenerative farming reaping such rich wildlife rewards.

https://www.highashfarm.com/

Dovefromabove

@fire … it’s two miles from here … it’s where we go for our walks. 

😊 

Edited to add… you can also find out more about it by listening to Chris Skinner on the Radio Norfolk Countryside Podcasts on BBC Sounds.